August 25, 2010 Wednesday

Bolinas	Groin & Channel
8:30 am to 10:30 am	Consistent 3' to 4', sets to 5'
Low upcoming tide	No wind to slight onshore breeze
Warm sunny day - heat wave	Good session

All the elements came together this morning: 3 ft south swell at 17 seconds, no wind, upcoming tide, warm heat wave weather, and a bottom that groomed all swells to continuously peel to the left. The much-anticipated south swell had arrived and would continue strong through tomorrow.

The north coast surf community had followed this swell’s progress for a week on the Internet and they showed up to greet it. At 7:30 am all the parking spots on Brighton Avenue in Bolinas were taken. Expectations were running high. After three months of fog, wind and no surf, everyone was ready for some good waves. The skies had cleared, the wind had stopped, and fog had lifted, so bring on the waves.

The Bolinas regulars were there: Mary, Marty, David who rides the Becker board, Robert the Larkspur carpenter, Cathy from the Russian River area, Hans, Matt and Jack the Dave Sweet team rider.

Jack was in his wetsuit waxing up his prized Dave Sweet longboard as I walked by to check the surf. Monday Jack and I had stood on the overlook above the Groin and Jack didn’t think it was worth it and didn’t go out. Today he was amp’ed with excitement. He had connected with great waves yesterday, including some long rights on the Seadrift side of the Channel.

“I’m going out to the Channel to get some more of those rights. Hurry up Loren, check the surf and come on out.” Out in the water I met Jack at the left peak at the Groin. He tried the rights on the Seadrift side of the Channel and got plummeted. It was too shallow. A head-head wall sucked out in six inches of water and slammed him into the bottom. After that he decided to try the left side of the Channel where the water was deeper.

The high expectations brought out surfers that I had not seen in months. Usually they can only surf on the weekends, but due to the strong Internet predictions they altered their schedules, changed their plans, called in sick and informed the boss they were working from home.

Twelve surfers were out at the Patch. I walked down there to take some photos. The outside peak had some size but not much punch. The rides were long and slow. But the inside rights looked good and Jeff from Mill Valley was on them. I watched him catch four fast inside curls in a row. The waves would peak over the rocks of the reef and would connect with the inside beach break. Jeff rode those curls right up to dry sand. That’s him in the above photo.

After my session, Jeff drove by, stopped and rolled down the window to say hello. I had not seen him in months. “I got some good shots of you on those inside curls.” Jeff was excited about his session. “When people paddled out and asked how is it? I told them that the far outside peak was pumping and waved them on.” That way he managed to keep that inside break to himself. We laughed and he drove on.

Barry the management team trainer exited the water. I had not seen him in months. “Barry how are you? Where have you been?” Extended camping was his answer and his training business was going well despite the economic slow-down. Barry had just given up on the slow Patch waves and was walking down to the Groin.

Walking down the beach towards the Groin I watched a longboarder crouch down and duck under the lip of a peeling fast left that put him next to the Groin pole. He popped up and waved to me. In the bright sun I couldn’t make out who it was. Could that be Yoshi? That’s his style to crouch low on inside curls. I paddled out and it was Yoshi.

“Loren the waves are getting better.”

“Yoshi how are you? I haven’t seen you in months. Ever since the Marin IJ had that full-page review of your restaurant, you disappeared. How’s business?”

“Up and down as usual and I have been busy.” Yoshi and his wife own Umi’s sushi restaurant on Fourth Street in San Rafael. Umi’s is definitely another entry in our Surfers Eateries blog. It’s not close to the ocean, but its owner and chef, Yoshi, is an excellent surfer.

Paddling out from Seadrift to the Channel peak was Jeff the Stinson Beach local. The last time I had seen him was during the good swell last January when the Stinson holes reappeared to form some great peaks. Jeff was here at the Channel because Stinson was nothing but closeout walls.

Doug paddled over from the Seadrift side. I hadn’t seen him in months. “Doug where have you been? Have you been surfing?”

“Yes at Salmon and Dillon’s Beach. I have been going out three days a week. The winds have been down. Here’s the trick; if the buoys read a NW swell at five feet or less Salmon will be good for longboards. If the swell is above five feet I go to Dillon, the swell will be smaller there.”

Ken the knee boarder paddled out. I had not seen him in months. Ken is an electrician and only surfs on weekends. Before I retired I saw him often in the water. He was taking the day off because conditions were good.

“Ken these are perfect knee board waves.” The Channel waves were steep, fast and on the edge between makeable and closeouts. Paddling out I got a good side view of Ken humming down a four-foot wall with the lip coming over his head as he screamed by me.

“Scott, it’s Wednesday and you are in the water. All is right with the world.”
Scott who only surfs on Wednesdays was out at the Channel skillfully cruising down several left walls. Scott is a psychiatrist who keeps Wednesday mornings open on his calendar so he can surf. After our session Marty and I ran into Scott while he was busily changing into his professional uniform.

“Scott careful. That bar of wax in your back pocket might stain your black slacks,” Marty said. Scott laughed. What a transformation from full wetsuit to black slacks, blue dress shirt and hard shores.

“Scott, are you changing into your Clark Kent uniform?” I called out to him. It’s great that this professional can make time to get some waves and then quickly convert back to the business world.

When I exited the water I ran into Barry, “Mr. Throwback”, walking down the beach with his single fin longboard under his arm. I had not seen him in months. Barry is from the old school of surfing: no leash, no wetsuit, no booties, no nothing except his aloha swim trunks.

“Barry you must be into surf music. We need to talk. I’m an avid collector of old surf tunes.” Barry has combined the two loves of his life: surfing and music. He produces music jingles for commercials and is quite successful at it. This allows him plenty of time to surf.

“Of course I’m into surf music. I grew up in Hawthorne, the home of the Beach Boys. They played at our senior prom.”

“I’m still in contact with my old friend Paul Johnson who started the Bel Aires and wrote the tune Mr. Moto.”

“I remember the Challengers and all those old groups.”

“I went to high school with the Challengers.”

“You’re right, we have to talk.” There’s a conversation I’m looking forward to.

The sky was blue, the air was warm; I was in shorts and sandals feeling the glow of having dropped down the faces of several beautiful blue-green walls. Again it was another great morning in Marin.